The look of complete joy on his face
as he was mobbed by his team-mates said everything about the potential
significance of the moment.

Jimmy Anderson had struck with the last ball of the day and England were back in the first Test.

They still face an uphill battle, of
course, after suicidal shot selection had left them at least 200 below
par in their first innings, but England's fightback on Wednedsay
epitomised their unity and the character within the team.

Big finish: James Anderson (right) runs off to celebrate getting rid of Abdur Rehman with the final ball of the day

Pakistan v England

This second day was everything we
expected from this series: old-fashioned, attritional Test cricket with
disciplined bowling from England on a flat sub-continental-type pitch
being met with careful Pakistan defiance.

On any other day Andrew Strauss would
have been delighted to take seven wickets and restrict Pakistan to
fewer than three an over but such was England's capitulation at the
hands of Saeed Ajmal that Misbah-ul-Haq will still expect his team to go
on to victory from here.

That Misbah would have slept just
that little less soundly last night was entirely down to England's late
double strike which made Pakistan's scoring rate seem just that little
bit too slovenly.

Misbah himself, whose calmness at the
crease epitomises the pragmatism he has brought to his new-look side,
had been blocking his way toward the close for more than three hours
when Graeme Swann suddenly struck him a blow on the front pad that he
thrusts seemingly permanently forward.

It looked a marginal call and umpire
Billy Bowden seemed entitled to turn down Swann's appeal. Strauss
agonised over whether to review the decision but was del ighted he did
when technology suggested the ball was just hitting leg stump.

Bowden seemed aghast that his decision had been overturned and I really could not blame him.

Whatever the scientists and decision
review system apologists say, there looked an element of doubt there and
Misbah might have been unlucky. No matter.

When Anderson followed it up in the
next and final over of the day by swinging a ball past the defences of
Abdur Rehman, England were able to leave the field with a spring in
their step and a chance to dream that they may yet get out of jail. It
was not the perfect day for them.

Mobbed: Stuart Broad is congratulated by his team-mates after dismissing Pakistan's Azhar Ali

They really needed to take every
half-chance to limit the damage inflicted on them by Ajmal, and fielding
coach Richard Halsall will have been disappointed to see Ian Bell miss a
run-out by a whisker and both Chris Tremlett and Kevin Pietersen spill
difficult catches.

Mohammad Hafeez was the beneficiary
of England's largess on two of those occasions and took advantage to
show why he has become one of the most effective all-round cricketers in
the world.

It was Hafeez who began England's
demise on Tuesday when he dismissed Alastair Cook with his orthodox
off-spin and now he played the best innings of the day, surviving that
run-out chance on 44 and Tremlett's miss on 52 to go on to a
well-organised 88.

Stuart Broad was the pick of the
tourists' attack, again bowling with the intelligence that he showed
against India last summer to take two wickets in quick succession after
the disappointment of missing out on Hafeez, dismissing Taufeeq Umar in
particular with an absolute beauty.

But perhaps the most pleasing bowling
of the day came from Jonathan Trott, who showed that he could yet step
into Paul Collingwood's shoes as fifth bowler by dismissing the key
figure of Younis Khan and generally provide a threat by getting seam
movement with his medium pace.

England's batsmen are the most
reluctant of bowlers and it would make such a difference if Trott could
perform this role more often.

Key contribution: Mohammad Hafeez weighed in with 88 before he was trapped lbw by Graeme Swann

There is a strong case to say that
Trott's contribution would not have been necessary had England played
Monty Panesar in a balanced attack of five bowlers and dropped a
batsman.

As an advocate of such a policy, at
least in subcontinental conditions, I can only concur that it would have
been lovely to see Panesar out there supporting Swann, especially as
there was barely a hint of the reverse swing that England's seamers were banking on here.

But the absence of Tim Bresnan does
make such a move risky in the extreme, especially as much of England's
success has been built around piling runs on the board with the longest
batting line-up in Test cricket.

Leading by example: Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq managed a half century

I am not sure England could have
done much better yesterday even if Panesar had been supporting Swann,
who bowled well in taking two wickets and could never have been expected
to repeat Ajmal's first-day heroics on such a bland surface.

Yet it is fair to say that Tremlett,
who has played in just last week's warm-up match since badly injuring
his back last summer, was not at his best and Anderson was reasonably
innocuous until he struck with the second new ball and then made his
late heartening strike.

The key to this match and the rest of the three-Test series is undoubtedly England's ability to counter the threat of Ajmal. But they need only look back to the first Test of the Ashes last winter at Brisbane to know that they can concede a big first-innings deficit and still hit back in style.

The challenge now is whether they can do it in alien conditions against the mystery spin of Ajmal.